Justifiably, the creation work of the british administration in this part of the sub Saharan Africa over a century ago has not only suffered instability but also disunity. Nigeria has (and is still witnessing) series of events, actions and reactions. And like a seasoned movie, the end is not in sight.

These continual troubles have further raised issues and opinions as to whether the Fredrick Luggard’s hosted marriage was even a right bid. So far, the country is been torn apart by internal crisis, war, and hates speeches thereby threatening the nationhood.

Sir Hugh Clifford, the British colonial administrator and Governor General of Nigeria ( 1920 – 1931 ) after Fredrick Luggard, described Nigeria as “a collection of independent Native States, separated from one another by great distances , by differences of history and traditions and by ethnological, racial, tribal, political, social and religious barriers.” –Culled from James Smoot Coleman’s book, Nigeria (p. 194).

It is in this plight that this article wills to dig out solutions from the present ditch using sociolinguistics terms and some historical antecedents as it relates to the theme. The title has already given insights to the approach. First, we would understand the concepts of ‘Nationism and ‘Nationalism’. Then we forge ahead with other relevant concepts.

Just as promised some weeks ago, the 8th Senate under the leadership of Senator Bukola Saraki is fulfilling the Constitutional amendment process. The senate is riding on an already established record of numerous bill passage within its first 2yrs of inauguration. Thus, it is making a giant stride with the constitution review considerations.

The Constitution review committee, as chaired by the Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, this week submitted 33 bills on the floor of the house for considerations. And we the use of the Electronic voting system (e-voting), 29 out of it were successfully passed yesterday.

Among the passed bills are the famous #nottoyoungtorun bill, Local government autonomy bill, restriction of tenure and financial autonomy of the states government.
Below is a breakdown, voting results, interpretations and status of each bill.

Bill 1: Amendment of the Members of the Council of States.
Interpretation: The Council of States which currently consists of the sitting President, living ex-presidents and the sitting Senate President and speaker should now include the ex-Senate president “provided that such a person was not removed from office by the process of impeachment”.

I am not as old as the 2nd republic, but the little history has taught me revealed that every general election in Nigeria gears up specific themes targeted at reviving the nation. However, there is never a period within these timeline that these themes have pragmatically stood their course. The 1979’s Green Revolution; 1993’s Hope campaign, 1999’s Power Agenda, the 2011’s 7-point Agenda, 2015’s transformation Agenda and the 2015’s Change Mantra. 2019 is around the corner and we are planning to sing a new song.

Our cry for ‘Change’ in 2015 was amazing. Everyone seriously wanted a real change in the then status quo of in orderliness. Our politicians saw the anxiety; picked it up and personalized it. It superbly got them the key to the Aso Villa and ‘Power’ succinctly conceded to ‘Change’. The problem wasn’t in the mantra but in the lack of direction and motif. Now the change we all wanted becomes wavy to handle. ‘Change the Change’ is the counter slogan to employ.

Only suddenly have we now discovered scattered reasons and facts on why we cant co-exist with one another. The Cat and Dog story have been revived to suit their aim. The germane issues of governance are left unattended to and accusing fingers are pointed at one another. Nigeria is a made up of 6 geo-political zones and (amazingly) 5 out of it are feeling cheated and segregated by the only one. As it stands, secession is the new threat in town. Continue reading →

To lead is to conquer;
Verily, the Masters are Doctoring the philosophy.
So firm they stand their reign.
Their crafty-trickish spears spare no one.
Sadly, the quest to conquer
Have misplaced their desire to lead.

In the lead to conquer,
They were favored by your manipulative thumbs.
Those favors have indexed them into various positions of honor.
But like forgotten stories,
The sights of their middle fingers flaunted at you with pride
Is more than bizarre.

The new facets have them pitched against one another;
And the innocent ‘you’ will prolly be the mercenary.
You had thought they would actually fight for your course.
Maliciously, the reverse is the case.
Sorry, the Change agenda is on hold;
We have a bigger Chase to mould.

To lead requires strength, wisdom and desire.
To conquer; just own the masses.
They are readied instruments with little or no knowlege about the rivalry.
For as long as you have them,
Your rivals’ best tactics can only take them as far as a lid behind lead.
Surely, To lead is to conquer…

Just like Abati in his controversial write-up (The spiritual side of the Aso Rock), Have you also noticed some elements of bad decisions and policies emanating from the Villa?

According to Dr.Abati, some blood sucking demons have taken over the Villa a very longtime ago. He further outlined these Demons to have been the stewards of the wrong and ill-punctuated decisions made by our Heads of states from the past till date. Well, every person is entitled to his /her own opinion and not the fact. Having served at the Villa for close to five years, the fact that a piece like this is coming from him raises eyebrow. Some way, his report has gotten almost all Nigerians talking. But…‘are there really Demons in the Aso rock? In my own opinion and with respect to Dr. Abati (a prolific Dramatist and journalist), his write-up has woken up the ‘Confucianist’ sense of the people. Philosophically, human are always quick to react without a process of deep thinking. Some have aligned with the submission while some are typically against it. Even the Presidency has replied with its own version– unspiritual side of the Aso Rock– by Femi Adesina. In all, the issue is still open to every individual’s personal interpretation.

However, I will want us to see these ‘Demons’ from another point of view. Literarily demons are evil agents. They are supernatural being that serves as intermediary between gods and men. But in political context, the demons are human structures that can serve as a militating force to the progress of a vision. In this realm, anything that can stop you from achieving your goals is a demon; be it man or otherwise.

This makes Dr. Abati’s submission of demons in the Villa makes some senses. Of no doubt, every government have had its own encounter with its own demons. Different sets of people had formed coalition with governments at various levels not for its progress but for its doom. They are Political demons. You can rightly refer to them as the Cabals. With any slight chance they get, they are ready to hijack the government. To them politics is a game of returns. They don’t want to be president; they rule the presidents. They do everything humanly possible to get you there and request your loyalty in turn. Take it or leave it, they own the government.

You don’t like them (neither do i). But there is nothing you can do, they always exist. It’s the democracy we chose. Political demons are everywhere in the world (even America). They influence decisions of the presidency; they feel they got them there. Since they are unavoidably part of the government, to excel as a leader, it all depends on how you are able to manage them. So why shouldn’t we begin to see them as an arm of government.

Theoretically, our textbooks have taught us that there are only but three (3) arms of government;

-the executive [led by the president]
-the legislature [headed by the Senate president]
-the judiciary [controlled by the Chief Justice].

Each arm is said to be independent and inter connected. The legislature makes laws, the executive implements and the judiciary interprets. Every government dwells on the effectiveness of every of these tiers to excel. But there is a fourth tier that requires special consideration – the ‘Demon Assembly’ around the Aso rock. You don’t neglect them if you want to flourish. They possess commanding power that can make or mar you. This is more reason why we should begin to see and plan for them as part of the government.
Since they appear to be inevitable in governance, I think we need to begin to study them concentratedly to change ‘centri-fugal’ state we’ve found ourselves. The school had taught us all that we need to know. How to apply them to real life situation remains abstract. You can only be taught how to cook; no one teaches you the kind of seasoning to apply to give you your desired taste. We need to begin to learn about the Cabals and how to handle them in governance.

How to identify the demons.

When during the President’s inauguration ceremony he said he belongs to nobody and belongs to everybody, I laughed. He said this statement to signal a warning to the demons around. The statement was meant to push them away and set them on the run. But then I was wondering how he intends to run the administration without the fourth arm.

That statement shook the whole nation. For once, Nigerians began to attest the fact that the right option had been chosen. As if that wasn’t enough, he decided to lock them out completely by refusing them the access to mediation; office of the First Lady.

The office of the First lady.

From 1987 till 2015, just like you will always need the service of a Priest to mediate between you and the gods, there have always been a special personality in charge of that duty to the President. Little wonder, Gen. Babangida had to create an office for that purpose (for the first time in history); the office of the First lady.

No spiritualism intended but this office has always been the link of the Cabals to the president. The constitution gave no special recognition to the demon assembly (cabals), hence, an unconstitutional office for the unconstitutional purpose. This, in turn, has made all First ladies very powerful that they challenge Executive Governors and Ministers in some special cases. More reason why PMB has refused to use this office.

PMB and the office of the First lady.

PMB upon inauguration has insisted that he was ready to run his administration without the office of the first lady. The demons felt the intentional ousting out of the government they fought for. Immediately, they rallied around the wife of the president and played the popular ‘gender discrimination’ game. They got the voice of the masses but it wasn’t enough to convince the General. To cut the long story short, Aisha assumed office as ‘the wife of the president’ but not as the ‘First lady’. I wonder what difference ‘six’ and ‘half a dozen’ makes. After all, the way to a man’s heart is through his Minister of home affairs. The link was created but the Presidency refuses to trail. Well, there are so many ways to kill a fish (without using a knife).

Neglect of the demons and its consequences.

As the fourth arm of government (even if you insists it’s informal), the neglect of the demonic assembly wont come without effects. Like an adage in Yoruba that says – an imbecile is less concerned about the extraction of milk but he is a pro in pouring it away.

The fourth arm of government will always look for a way to walk back through the government by crook or by means.
They’ve got nothing specific to lose. Therefore, neglecting them wont come without unfavorable conditions to the presidency. Conditions like;

-Antagonism from within
-Instability
-Grudges and malice
-Strengthened opposition
-Lack of loyalty and the host of others.

Above all, the presidency also risks losing a re-run campaign as a penalty for disobedience. A case in hand is the issue of former president Goodluck Jonathan and the 2015 election. You know the story and am sure you know the demons. *mouth sealed*

This time around, we have different kinds of demons around the Aso rock. And if not correctly worshipped, the house will remain under fire. *drops pen*

Maybe I might be wrong; maybe not, but I will appreciate your welcoming effort to peruse through this article. This is about a mind blowing issue that concerns every thinking Nigerian Youth. It is a must-read for every ‘patriotic’ Nigerian who wishes for an outstanding personal and national development.

Come to think of it, who are the leaders of tomorrow and how do they flair in the real sense at the moment? These are simple questions that warrant serious reasoning before we finally jump into conclusion.

To start with, they say we youth are the leaders of tomorrow. Of course, we are and they been saying this even before I was born. But the point of reasoning is that – do we really have or exhibit those qualities, attitudes and altitude that real leaders should display? Am afraid it’s a very big NO. We don’t and we are not even craving to acquire them. We look too comfortable the way we are.

These old wigs had pushed us out yet we stay so relaxed. From time in memorial, they have killing our dreams. They claim ‘we are the leaders of tomorrow’, but have shielded us from acquiring the basics and culture a potential leaders should. Knowingly or unknowingly, they have only been concerned about their own progress and they forget to bring us up in the administrative way. Perhaps, for the fear of our dominance.

Nigerian Youth Corp members at an Orientation camp

I don’t have real issues with them, but with we youths who seem to accepted the fate. Awkwardly, we look too comfortable the way we are. We prefer to sit down on those cushion with our legs crossed over the other doing nothing but Continue reading →